


so much of me is made of what I learned from you

by lettersfromnowhere



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Dancing Lessons, F/M, Kid Fic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, cheesy in the extreme, the dreaded kidfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 02:24:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15720027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettersfromnowhere/pseuds/lettersfromnowhere
Summary: Peter's convinced that dancing skills run in families, but they must be carefully cultivated. That, however, is one parental responsibility he's more than happy to see to.





	so much of me is made of what I learned from you

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally succumbed to the dreaded kidfic-itis! Kidding. Kidfic's great. I got an idea - "what if Peter and Gamora made their own version of Awesome Mix for their kid?" - and it wouldn't leave me alone. And that is how the fastest-written fic I've ever posted came about. Enjoy, kids. Title is from "For Good" from Wicked. 
> 
> Warning: not for the lactose intolerant. 
> 
> (...it's cheesy. That was supposed to be my clever way of saying it's cheesy. I should not attempt puns.)

It was sometimes startling, Peter had always thought, how much of himself he saw in his daughter. She sat in the copilot’s seat, staring out the windshield as if deep in thought; bright purple headphones rested atop her unkempt bedhead; she always did when sleep evaded her.

 

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, sliding into the seat next to hers. She barely glanced up. He tapped her shoulder. “Calista?”

 

“Huh?” she asked dazedly, too absorbed in her music to adjust quickly to the prospect of social interaction.

 

“Remember what I told you about headphones?” he reminded her gently. “volume down. You should be able to hear me.”

 

“That’s why I did it,” Calista shot back, a smile just faint enough to convey that she was teasing passing across her face.

 

“Hey, I’m not _that_ boring!” Peter protested teasingly.

 

“You’re the one who gave me this, y’know,” Calista shot back.

 

“Ah, checkmate.” Peter shrugged, accepting defeat, but still smiling. “Whatcha listenin’ to?”

 

“Mmph,” she muttered incoherently, slipping her too-small headphones over his ears.

 

_I told you that we could fly / ‘cause we all have wings, but some of us don’t know why…_

“ _Never Tear Us Apart_?” Peter glanced sideways at his daughter, eyes full of subtle fondness. “Your mom picked that one out. ‘S a good one, isn’t it?”

 

Calista nodded. “I like it, but…it isn’t my favorite.” Her lips pursed slightly as she paused to think. “It’s too slow. I like the ones I can dance to better.”

 

“Me too,” Peter concurred. “But sometimes slow ones are good for dancing too, you know.”

  
Calista screwed up her face in disgust. “Ew.”

 

“No, really.” Peter nodded earnestly. “Slow dancing is just as much fun, if you have a good partner.”

 

“Ehhh…” Calista still looked skeptical.

“Here. Gimme that,” Peter requested, extending his palm. Calista glared.

 

“No.”

 

“C’mon,” he urged. “It’ll be fun! Give me the Zune, will ya?”

 

“Fine,” Calista huffed, handing over the device reluctantly. Peter flicked through the list of songs – mercifully short, he knew fully well that he’d never be able to choose just one song if it wasn’t – and settled upon one he knew his daughter would at least _somewhat_ accept. He hooked the device into a speaker system, carefully adjusting its volume settings so as not to be murdered by his crewmates for reckless stereo use.

 

“You wanna put one hand here,” Peter instructed, moving her hand to his shoulder.

 

“I’m too short for this,” Calista remarked blankly.

 

“Nah. Stand on your toes,” Peter said, bending forward slightly to shorten himself to a somewhat more suitable height. “That better?”

 

“Little bit.” Calista nodded, her skeptical expression melting slightly as she arched her feet to stand closer to her father’s height.

 

“That’s it,” he encouraged her. “Now sway, like this.”

 

Music began to filter softly through the speakers, and Peter began to move back and forth to the melody, guiding Calista’s steps. She picked up quickly, if reluctantly, though she had to stop and relax her aching feet every so often (standing on her toes for extended lengths of time, Calista soon discovered, was rather difficult).

 

“You’ve got the dancing gene,” Peter told her with more pride than she’d ever heard him express. “The latest in a long line.”

 

“I still like dancing to fast songs better,” Calista maintained, impishly stubborn solely because she _knew_ her father was the same way, and she knew even better how much his own traits could be used to annoy him.

 

“This is a great song!” Peter protested. “Your mom and I used to love dancing to this.”

 

_I don’t want clever conversation, I never want to work that hard / I just want someone I can talk to…_

“What is going on in here?”

  
Gamora leaned into the doorway, bleary-eyed and none too pleased with the noise at this hour.

“Don’t you think it’s about time Calista learned to dance?” Peter asked her, smiling cheekily in her direction.

 

“In the middle of the night?!?”

 

“She’s a natural!” Peter protested. “Talent waits for no man.”

 

“Can’t talent at least wait for a decent hour?” Gamora asked, relaxing her tone as she watched them sway.

 

“Nah, neither of us could sleep,” Peter said.

 

“Taught her the twirl yet?” Gamora asked, propping herself up against the doorway.

 

“How could I forget?” Peter’s eyes lit up. “Wanna learn a new move?”

 

“…no,” Calista said, attempting an indifferent deadpan, but she couldn’t fight the smile off her face entirely.

 

“So, for this one, I’m going to spin you around and pull you back in. Just…go under my arm,” Peter explained, realizing a moment too late that he’d never thought about the best way to explain it; he’d have to rely on the innate sense of rhythm he was thoroughly convinced his daughter possessed.

 

“Like this?” Calista asked, attempting to twirl herself and tangling her arm at an unnatural angle in her father’s. She shook her head. “Nope.”

 

“Let me show you,” Peter replied, gently turning her arm. She picked up quickly, following with her feet. “That’s it! See? Told ya she was a natural!”

 

“How fortuitous,” Gamora replied, allowing the sharp sense for sarcasm that she rarely employed to slip out in her dual fondness and amusement.

 

“Wanna try an…advanced twirl, since you’re so good at the normal one already?” Peter offered, eyes alight with mirth.

 

“Sure,” Calista reluctantly accepted, only to be briefly swept off her feet, spun and effortlessly returned to the ground. Blinking back her initial surprise, she couldn’t stifle a slight giggle.

 

“Okay, so this slow dancing thing doesn’t suck,” she conceded. Peter grinned triumphantly, his expression leaving no need for words.

 

“Did we ever tell you why we made this mix for you?” he asked, eager to make the most of his daughter’s good mood while it lasted. Calista rolled her eyes.

 

“Only a million times,” she sighed. “B’cause your mom made you one and it was important to you, so when you had me, you made me an Awesome Mix ‘cause you wanted’a give me ‘the gift of music.’”

 

“And ten years later, you’re still not sick of listening to it,” Peter finished fondly.

 

“Well…”

 

“ _What?”_ Peter feigned astonishment. “ _However_ could you get sick of my _wonderful_ taste in music?”

 

“You just said,” Calista answered, unfazed. “I’ve been listening to it for ten years.” The song coming to a close, she escaped her father’s dance hold to reclaim the Zune.

 

“Fine, then. Want to make a new one? Together?”

 

“Actually?” Calista considered the offer. “Actually…yeah. I’d like that.”

 

“Tomorrow,” Gamora admonished. “After _both of you_ have gotten a decent night of sleep.”

 

“Of course, darling,” Peter agreed cheekily, winking exaggeratedly in Calista’s direction as he retreated.

 

Calista took her seat in the copilot’s chair again, and even though she’d long since concluded that her father was absolutely ridiculous…

 

Well, she had to admit that he had his moments.

**Author's Note:**

> Songs referenced: "Never Tear Us Apart" by INXS and "Just The Way You Are" by Billy Joel. Credits to Sharkinterviewee for her enthusiasm for this idea and encouragement during the writing process.
> 
>  
> 
> A note on naming: I wanted to differentiate a little bit from most Starmora kid fic, so I didn’t name their daughter Meredith like a lot of authors do. Calista has no relevance to anything; I just thought it sounded suitably “exotic” (very Greek, which usually works well in space because, y’know, constellations) and space-y to work while still being pretty.


End file.
